Every year as my daughter gets older, I appreciate and love Mother's Day more and more. This year feels very special as my daughter is beginning to understand the day too.

A few days ago I picked up my daughter from preschool. As I waited in the carpool line I saw her exit the school with a beaming smile. We waved at each other as she skipped and hopped toward the car. Once inside she handed me a rolled up purple paper with a string wrapped around it.

So grateful to be this little girl's mom!

"For you Mommy, open it up. Open it up!" She shouted. "Okay," I said as I pulled away to strap her into her car seat. Once safely parked, I opened her door and she greeted me with the biggest hug. "Here Mommy for you. Happy Love Day!" She said as she gave me her purple paper.

I opened up her sweet card made with her little hand prints- I loved it! These special moments with my daughter are the most important and memorable for me. Truly the best.

After a busy day with my daughter, I ran out of energy and ideas for playtime activities. We were sitting on the sofa together taking a break. I was trying to regain motivation, and she was ready for the next activity- coaxing me to have another tea party.

As she scooted over to sit closer to me, she sat on top of an empty notebook of mine. I had hoped to use it earlier in the day to sketch and to write. That didn't happen.

Instead...

She found a notebook filled with a lot of blank pages.

To my surprise, the empty pages did not dampen her excitement. As she picked up the notebook, she smiled widely and said, "Look, Mommy your book!"

Before I could respond, she opened it up and began pretending to read a story. With each turn of a page the story continued in great detail. She told a story about a princess with rainbow colored dresses.

We took a few turns telling more silly stories about princesses and puppies. It was so much fun to sit together making up the stories. It was a nice turn of events. I loved that our next playtime activity developed naturally.

This story time ended up being the best part of our day.

Who needs pictures and written words when you have an active imagination?

This morning my daughter woke up in her usual bright-eyed and cheery way. As I opened her door, I heard “I awake Mommy.”

“I see that. Good morning sweetie.” I replied. Then, picked her up and hugged her smiley face. She quickly indicated with kicks and wiggles that she wanted down.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, she started talking. “Mommy, I am two and a half. Mommy, I have to go potty. Mommy, I wear my pink dress. Mommy, I wash my hand..." and so on.

After a slight pause, she continued with some questions. “Mommy, I go to school today? Mommy, I stay home with you? Mommy, can I have a Popsicle?” I could barely answer her before she moved onto the next topic.

“Mommy where is Daddy?”

“He is in our bedroom,” I said.

“Okay, I go see him.” She said as she ran down the hall shouting, “Daddy, I awake. Daddy, where are you?”

“In here (our bedroom),” he replied.

“Daddy, I want a bow in my hair. Can you put a bow in my hair?” she asked.

“Mommy will put a bow in your hair,” he replied.

“Okay. Mommy put a bow in your hair too, Daddy?”

“No, I don’t need a bow. I don’t even have hair.” He said laughingly.

“Mommy, Daddy doesn’t have hair,” she said with an inquisitive tone.

“I know sweetie. Daddy doesn’t have hair. He is bald,” I replied with a smile.

She replied with a question, “Why?”

“It fell out a long time ago, but that is okay. We love Daddy with his bald head.”

As parents we can spare a few moments from our phone and work to hug our kids, look them in the eyes and say, "Hello, I have missed you, I love you." Especially when picking them up from daycare or school.

How do you shut out the noise and stay in the moment with your kids?

Like many toddlers, Lily is very observant. She loves to mimic my words and actions. Most of the time these instances warm my heart. On other occasions, I cringe with the mortifying realization that she is portraying a rather challenging moment in time.

Photo by cranach/iStock / Getty Images

Of course, I regularly try to be careful with my word selection. I try to be mindful as much as possible. But life happens - No one is perfect and some days are harder than others.

A few weeks ago, we had a bit of a warm spell in Dallas. This lovely surprise caused a few wasps to find their way inside of our home. Ironically the exterminator was scheduled for the next day.

Anyways, I am not a bug person, and I especially do not like to kill them. So, to see one wasp, flying around the living room made me instantly stress out. (I know, I know there are worst things in life.)

I quickly hurried my daughter out of the room. Then, just as quickly, I lost my mindfulness and carefulness around my word selection.

Let's just say I had a few choice words for the first wasp as I tried to shoo it out the front door. Then to my dismay, I noticed a second, and - OMG the third wasp. "What was happening?" My stress turned into a frantic dance into the kitchen to get the bug spray. I also called out to my daughter to stay away and to color.

Photo by Kenishirotie/iStock / Getty Images

As I returned and sprayed the wasps, ugh I had to watch them drop and wiggle. I couldn't help but act like a child myself. Embarrassingly I scurried around trying to figure out how to put them out of their misery. In a frustrated tone; I shouted and called them "dumb bugs" and acted like a wasp apocalypse was occurring.

As I was scooping them up. I realized my daughter had come back into the room. She was standing behind me laughing and shouting "Dumb bugs, Dumb bugs."

"No Lily. Don't say that. Mommy wasn't nice. I am sorry." I replied.

"Mommy it's ok, I am right here for you." She said as she rubbed my back while I continued scooping up the bugs. It was at that moment that I knew everything was ok. At some point, she had also learned to care.

Photo by Nuli_k/iStock / Getty Images

Even though Lily has replayed the scene out several times by running around the room, shouting "dumb bugs,” I know that raising a child is a continual process. And I am trying my hardest to do what is right for her knowing that there are going to be a few mess ups along the way.

News from Corine Dehghanpisheh

As a creative person, I am always looking for everyday inspirations and inspiring places to work.

I usually work form home but on some occasions I need to find a fresh spot in order to create something new. I tend to think best in a new environment. The freshness helps me to see things in different ways which can help me overcome writer's block or other creative freezes.

Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho

This is the view from my current work spot in Idaho- the peacefulness and calm helps me focus and find clarity.

I am having fun with my family while working hard on the third book in my #BabyLove Series.

The thought of flying with a toddler at any time of year can induce anxiety and force a family to rethink the entire idea. The long lines, security check, and the constrained seating requires a lot of patience for an adult never mind a small child. So flying with a toddler during the holiday season- well I have no words.

Photo by Poike/iStock / Getty Images

In regards to our upcoming flight, I hope for the best, expect the worst, and would be ecstatic if the situation ended up being somewhere in between.

The last time my husband and I took our toddler on a flight, she sat peacefully next to me dosing off as we prepared for take-off. Just as I exhaled in relief, the ding, ding sound of the bell occurred. The pilot told the flight attendants to take their seats - we were next in line for takeoff. Then, my child woke up. She looked at me with a perplexed face and grunted. She didn't need to tell me what was happening but proudly shouted, "I pooping!" with a glee in her voice.

My internal voice shouted "No, no not now - fall asleep, fall asleep." My external voice said, "Okay, sweetie." She continued to announce the play by play activity to the rest of the silent cabin. And joyfully exclaimed, "I did it!" when she was finished. (A silent, sarcastic "Hooray!" swirled in my head.)

I responded with a "Good job!" She then demanded a diaper change. However, we were ascending. The fasten seat bell sign was illuminated and the flight attendants were still seated. Trying to explain the situation to a two year old was a moo point. However, I thought it would sound better than nothing to my fellow passengers that heard her crying demands, "Diaper Change, Diaper Change!"

As soon as it was safe, I handed her and all of the diaper changing necessities over to my husband who was sitting in the aisle seat with a "Good luck" and a smile. "Phew!" - better him than me I thought.

This time, like the times before I am surely packing my patience and a lot of toddler distractions for the flight (videos and more videos). Again, I will sit in the middle seat and leave my husband in the aisle.

As I keep calm and breathe, I am thankful this holiday season and looking forward to spending the holidays with our family in Idaho.

What is better than a summer morning with loved ones? I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be.

Summer months are made for fun times in the outdoors. Longer days and shorter nights make even more time for fun activities. It's the perfect opportunity to take a break from writing, drawing, and working.

My family and I are relaxing on Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho and taking lots of silly pictures.